Does Your Bike Run On Fumes, How About Personal Fumes?

The Japanese always have interesting ways of creating something new and efficient. Their smaller cars helped to revolutionize the American automobile industry and now Toyota is one of the largest manufacturers on the planet. As a gimmick and a nod to the recyclable mindset, a company by the name of Toto, has taken things a step further and found a hilarious way to show that human excrement can indeed be useful. We thank Toto for our daily moment of zen and the coining of our new term "Poogineer" for their dedication and hard work.

Original article was written up on Wired.com

The Neo, a trike that runs on excrement

"TOTO, a name you might’ve seen on toilets and urinals, has built a motorcycle that runs on excrement. The toilet saddle is just for show, as the actual engine runs on manure and waste water, but you can’t fault the company for trying to make a splash when the Toilet Bike Neo debuted in Japan last week.

The Neo, a product of three years of research, development and design, is based on a 250cc trike, with a built-in toilet for a seat. The rider does not contribute to the fuel supply of purified and compressed livestock waste. So for now, this model’s bio-gas comes from the Shika-oi, in Hokkaido. As an engineer explained, “The waste and household water are converted to methane gas by fermenting, and the methane gas is converted to bio-gas by purifying.” Only the bio-gas ends up in the bike, so there’s no manure on-board. (Insert your own joke about crappy bike riders here).

The trike took a month-long slog from TOTO’s HQ in Kokura to Tokyo this past October, traveling around 870 miles in the process. Now, the bike is touring further afield in Japan to promote TOTO’s environmental efforts. But don’t hold your breath for your own poo-powered three-wheeler – TOTO has no plans to make another model."

Thirteen Hours Of Engine Porn?

What if we told you there is a new star in a film, that is thirteen hours in length and the action is ongoing like a Lord Of The Rings adventure, would you be interested to watch? Oh damn, we might have lost ya at the words, thirteen hours, but we dig the bold vision that is being introduced.

Jesse Cain, a film maker and amateur mechanic, has decided to break down the sexy siren within his film, which just happens to be a 1982 Volkswagen Rabbit engine and get it back into working order through a carthatic and enduring process film. Check out a ten minute clip below and see what you think, as it is clearly a different approach.

Link to original article on the Autopia section of Wired.com

Jesse Cain's1982 Volkswagen Rabbit engine and its thirteen hours of voyeur fame

"Forget about Bullitt, Ronin and Vanishing Point. There’s a new contender for greatest car movie ever made. It’s called Parts and Labor, and it’s over thirteen hours long.

Instead of Steve McQueen performing multiple stunts, the film stars the engine of a 1982 Volkswagen Rabbit and a pair of greasy hands. Like the still shown above, all the action consists of close ups of the engine being methodically taken apart and put back together again — triple-X rated pornography for the folks over at VW Vortex.

Filmmaker Jesse Cain is both the man behind the camera and the mechanic working on the car, and the project took him over two years. He said he originally wanted to film himself working on an iconic piece of Detroit iron, but chose a broken-down Rabbit since his name was already on its title.
“I decided to be thrifty in the recession environment and fix what I already owned,” Cain said. “The movie is entirely shot with close-ups, each shot composition and duration determined by the size, shape and difficulty of removing or installing each part.” You can watch ten minutes of it in the video clip below.

Cain doesn’t have any illusions about his own abilities as a mechanic, admitting to multiple mistakes he made throughout the process. “It would be fun to sit with an ASE certified mechanic and have him or her critique my work,” he said. “I’m pretty sure there would be some big laughs and horrified cringes at times.”


The project started as part of a larger film that Cain had planned, about a boy who fixes a long-neglected car after his family’s home goes into foreclosure. After shooting the scenes with the Rabbit, however, Cain realized the car was the true star.

“I started filming tests of how I imagined the engine scenes would look, and after watching the dailies of these tests I realized that I had already started shooting the film I wanted to make,” he said.
The result was a film that took as long as Cain spent working on the car. “Instead of relying on the usual tricks of filmmaking — jump cuts, time lapse, or simple editing of action — I left the camera rolling and showed the entire process,” he said. “The work involved took me 13 hours, three minutes on camera. It’s kind of a rejection of internet culture and immediacy.”

So far, response has been positive. New York City’s Anthology Film Archives screened Parts and Labor last weekend, offering a special ticket that allowed audience members to come and go as they pleased. The program even touted that the film “out-Warholed Andy.”

“Most people find it very meditative,” Cain said. “It’s very easy to settle into it for a while and become involved in the minutia of the operation. Others say it’s surprisingly riveting. The struggle and success of each shot has its own narrative arc.”

In other words, it’s just like working on a car."

What Triumph’s Bonneville ‘Might Have Evolved Into’

Certain bikes just have style and class wrapped up in the perfect package and feel as if they were tailor made for individuals such as Daniel Craig. Found this posting over on Wired.com, but it was written by Chris Hunter of BikeExif.com. This bike is just about perfect when it comes to a cafe racer style. As certain bikes come and go in and out of style, this particular Triumph is timeless. The girder front end and matching swingarm make the perfect matching suspension combination and dial in the lines. 

Link to the Autopia section of Wired.com

Check out Chris Hunter and BikeExif.com

This thoroughly modern custom out of England tastefully mines the past to create something that never was but could have been.

It’s called the Triumph Speed Twin Concept, a reference to the iconic 1937 Speed Twin 5T. It was designed by a pair of young British designers, Roy Norton and Tom Kasher, in what became something of an unofficial styling exercise for Triumph. The two were working on placement at the Xenophya industrial design studio when they approached Triumph with a proposal for “a bike taking retro themes in a modern direction.”

Triumph Product Manager Simon Warburton loved the idea and wrote a brief. He wanted a bike “styled to appeal to younger riders … the bike the Bonneville might have evolved into, in an alternative universe.”

Triumph Speed Twin Concept by Roy Norton and Tom Kasher

The choice of the Triumph Bonneville is a good one: The 865cc twin is a retro throwback in itself. When the production bike was upgraded to fuel injection, the system was carefully disguised to look like traditional carburetors.

Norton and Kasher set to work, drawing influence from the cafe racers and bobbers of yore. Input from Triumph ensured the Speed Twin concept was feasible from a manufacturing and homologation standpoint. Barbour outdoor clothing, another venerable English brand, helped out with materials for the seat and grips.

Warburton is pleased. He says elements from the concept could influence future projects. We’d love to see those eye-catching girder forks on a production bike. Although they’re mock-ups here, the technology is ripe for resurrection with modern materials and engineering know-how.
Photos: Triumph Motorcycles Ltd.

Triumph Speed Twin Concept by Roy Norton and Tom Kasher

Triumph Speed Twin Concept by Roy Norton and Tom Kasher

Triumph Speed Twin Concept by Roy Norton and Tom Kasher